BMC orders cancellation of irregular birth registration entries across Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has directed the Medical Officers of Health across all municipal wards in Mumbai to immediately cancel irregular birth registration correction entries. BMC Executive Health Officer Daksha Shah issued the directive targeting entries that were carried out without the receipt of prescribed applications or adequate supporting documents.

The order specifies that the cancellation of these irregular correction entries must be executed in accordance with the provisions of Section 15 and Rule 11 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. While the unauthorized corrections are being cleared, the directive mandates that the original birth registration records must be preserved.

The decision comes amid claims made by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, who stated that the executive health officer's order has cancelled 19,734 fraudulent birth certificates issued over the last two years. Somaiya had previously alleged that a total of 87,334 certificates had been illegally issued by the BMC during this two-year period.

Following these concerns, the BMC’s vigilance department launched a verification process of the birth certificates. The vigilance department's investigation revealed that 19,734 certificates were issued with major changes made to the names. Furthermore, the department found that 6,000 of these certificates were issued without any official applications being filed.

Under the new directives, the Medical Officers of Health of all Mumbai wards are tasked with identifying and cancelling these irregular entries. The process aims to clean up the municipal records while ensuring that the integrity of the original birth registrations is maintained across the city.